Trail Waiver#
9045-WSW-001-1:
Lacy Estate, Lot 11
5716 Telegraph Road

Article Prepared By Robert Michie
Trails and Sidewalk Committee, Lee District
Last Reviewed: 29 April 2011
Revision 1

Summary:

Suburban Development Engineeringhas requested a Trail Waiver for continued use of the
existing sidewalk as the property is redeveloped. The existing building is
to be torn down and replaced with a two-story office and retail building of
approximately 8,000 sq. ft. total. The site has plans for 31
off-street parking spaces.

The applicant requests the continued use of the five-foot sidewalk because
of space limitations. The lot sits astride a flood plain, and much of the
property has to remain undisturbed. The applicant also states that the
existing sidewalk is very close to the specifications for sidewalks in the
Virginia Department of Transportation Road Design manual.

Map 1: Map of Subject Area. Property highlighted in color.

Discussion:

Map 1 shows the location Lacy Estates Lot 11 in yellow (The larger lot is
marked with a number "1" in a circle). The meandering dotted line is the
designated Flood Plain ("FPL") for the Jones Branch Creek directly behind
the lot. The lot is mostly empty, and has a single story building with a
personal services business as its tenant.

The front sidewalk is about five feet wide (4' 8") and of concrete. It is
about 20 years old, and it is in reasonably good condition. There are
sidewalks on both sides of Route 1. A major residential area is to the east
of the property. Businesses to the north (and on the same side of Telegraph
Road as Lot 11) are gas stations. Many other properties to the north have
been cleared away in the last decade to accommodate the redesign of the
Beltway and interchanges in the vicinity of Telegraph Road. An important
southbound bus stop is located at Telegraph Road at the Farmington Drive
intersection, which is just barely visible at the bottom left of Map 1.
Telegraph Road in this vicinity is a four-lane divided highway.

Lot 11 is basically isolated from other properties at this time. A stream
bed to the rear and considerable open space on both sides means that access
to Lot 11 is currently by car.

Field Check 30 May 2011

Photo 1: Existing building at 5716 Telegraph Road. The
building will be replaced by a 2-story office/retail building.

Photo 2: Sidewalk view of 5716 Telegraph Road. The site
is currently isolated on both sides. The white wall in the center of the
photo is the back wall of a gas station about 100 ft beyond the edge of
Lot 11.

Recommendation:

Fairfax County Environmental and Site Review Division,
LDS, DPWES reviewed the application , and decided that it was misclassified.
In a memo dated April 27 2012, The Department decided to treat the
application as an On-Road Bike Lane Waiver.

DPWES recommends approval of the waiver for construction
of an on-road bike lane along the site's frontage with Telegraph Road
conditioned on the following:

The Applicant should be required to dedicate an additional five feet
of right-of-way along their Telegraph Road frontage to accommodate a
future on-road bike lane.

The Applicant should replace a 10 foot section of curb and gutter
immediately north of the existing drop inlet (sta 13+80).

The Applicant should ensure all existing sidewalk is in good
condition and that all curb ramps meet current ADA standards, and
replace/upgrade if necessary.